CHAPTER CCCCLXXXII.

An Act to amend an Act entitled an Act to provide for the registration of the citizens of this State and for the enrolment of all the legal voters thereof, and for the prevention and punishment of frauds affecting [the] elective franchise, approved March nineteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six.

[Approved March 30, 1868.]

The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and
Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section two of said Act is hereby amended so as

Clerk to

to read as follows: Section 2. In the Great Register, the County Clerk, on ap- County plication or on the return of the Assessor, shall register every register inhabitant of his county who, by virtue of the citizenship, law- names. ful age and other qualifications prescribed by the Constitution, is or may be within six months a qualified elector and legal voter thereof; and every person registered in one county, on removing to another county in this State with intent to reside there, shall apply to the County Clerk of the county where he is registered for a certificate of such registration, which shall be given him on demand, setting forth the entries as they exist in the respective register aforesaid, and certifying that it is given for the purpose of cancelling the registration therein and authorizing the registration of the applicant in any other county where he may next become a resident; on the production of which certificate to the County Clerk of the county to which he shall have removed, and the filing and cancellation thereof, and not otherwise, he shall be entitled to be there registered; and every person not producing such certificate shall, to entitle him to registration in any county, be required to make oath before the County Clerk or Assessor, as the case may be, that he is not registered in any other county; and any person wilfully and knowingly testifying falsely before such County Clerk or Assessor shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly; and whenever any certificate of registration shall be given to any person in the form and for the purposes in this section expressed, the County Clerk shall at the same time cancel the registration of such person by entering in the proper column the word "Removed."

SEC. 2. Section three of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

registration.

Section 3. The manner of registration shall be as follows: Manner of Clear and distinct entries shall be made in said books, setting forth in separate columns the name at full length (without the use of initials) of the person registered; his age, omitting fractions of years; the country of his nativity; his occupation; the particular city, town, township, ward or precinct of his residence; if a naturalized citizen, when, where and by what Court he was admitted to become a citizen of the United States; also, the date of registry, and a number affixed to each

Cancellation

Duty of
Assessors.

Errors.

Pay.

name, which numbers shall run successively in the order of registration; and to the truth of the facts stated in such entries the person registered shall be duly sworn, which also shall be noted and verified by the word "Sworn," to be entered in a separate column opposite the name; and if any person so sworn shall knowingly and wilfully testify falsely, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly.

SEC. 3. Section four of this Act is amended so as to read as follows:

Section 4. In the Great Register aforesaid there shall also be provided and left a blank column for the cancellation of the registration when required, by entering in said column opposite the name of the person registered the word "Dead," when authentic information shall be communicated to the County Clerk of the decease of such person; and the word "Removed" when such person shall remove from the county; the word "Insane" when the insanity of the person shall have been legally established; and the word "Infamous" when such person shall have been duly convicted of any infamous crime. And any competent Court before whom any person shall have been duly found insane, or adjudged guilty of bribery, perjury, forgery or other infamous crime, shall at the same time, or if it be then omitted may afterwards, order that such person, until duly restored to his rights, be excluded from the right of suffrage and registration on the Great Register; or if he already be registered therein, that his registration be cancelled. Insane persons shall recover their rights on becoming of sound mind, and persons convicted of any of the aforesaid offences may be restored to their rights by pardon and restoration to citizenship. SEC. 4. Section five of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 5. It shall be the duty of the Assessors of the several counties, personally or by their deputies, to enroll and return to the respective County Clerks from time to time, as the same shall come to their knowledge, the names of all unregistered inhabitants of their counties who by this Act are required to be registered, together with the particulars required to be entered and set forth in the registration of such persons, as provided in section three, to the end that such persons be registered in the proper book, as therein required; and the Assessor or his deputies shall examine on oath each person so enrolled and returned, in relation to the facts and particulars so required to be set forth, and in his returns shall note the fact of such examination and sworn verification by the word "Sworn," with the date of administering the oath. The County Clerk, finding the return sufficient for the purpose, shall register the names returned accordingly. Any defects in such returns shall be pointed out by the County Clerk, in order that the errors or defects may be corrected when practicable, and that persons entitled to registration may suffer no prejudice or unnecessary delay thereby. The County Clerk and the Assessor shall be allowed for their services aforesaid, payable out of the County Treasury, such compensation as the Board of Supervisors shall fix, not exceeding twenty-five cents to the County Clerk for

each name registered, and twenty-five cents to the Assessor for each name duly and properly returned as aforesaid.

SEC. 5. Section six of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

citizens.

Section 6. No person, having been an alien, shall be entitled Naturalized to be registered in the Great Register unless he shall produce to the County Clerk or Assessor his certificate of naturalization, or, in case of its loss, shall, by the testimony of at least one registered citizen of this State, prove to the satisfaction of the County Clerk or Assessor, that he has resided in the United States five years, and in this State six months, at least, next preceding his application, and that he is reputed to be a naturalized citizen of the United States, and is such, according to the best of such deponent's knowledge, information and belief; in which case, and such proof being made, the applicant's affidavit shall be received to establish the fact of naturalization, as well as the existence and loss or destruction of his certificate; and such affidavit so taken, with the name of the witness sworn in each case subscribed thercon, shall be returned by the Assessor to the County Clerk, who shall file the same in his office and place the name of the applicant on the Great Register.

SEC. 6. Section seven of said Act is hereby repealed.

SEC. 7. Section eight of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

virtue of

parents.

Section 8. Persons born without the limits of the United Citizens by States, who may claim to have become citizens thereof by virtue naturalizaof the naturalization of their fathers while they were under tion of twenty-one years of age and dwelling within the United States, shall, to entitle them to registration, produce to the Assessor or County Clerk a certificate in due form, under the seal of the proper Court, showing that their fathers were so naturalized, and make proof of their residence and minority at the time; or, being unable to produce such certificate, shall make the same proof of residence and reputed citizenship as is required in section six; and thereupon their own oaths, or the oath of some registered citizen, deposing to such naturalization of the father and the residence and minority of such person at the time, according to the best of deponent's knowledge, information and belief, shall be received by the County Clerk or Assessor as evidence of the fact; and in such case the applicant shall be admitted to permanent registration without further proof.

SEC. 8. Section nine of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 9. In all cases other than those provided for in the Proof of sixth and eighth [sections] of this Act, the Assessor or County citizenship. Clerk shall require satisfactory proof of citizenship on the part of all persons not personally known to them to be natural born citizens of the United States before admitting them to registration. Such proof may be given by authentic documents, or by the testimony on oath of any competent witness, and common repute may also be received as evidence in such cases. The County Clerk and Assessor shall each of them have power to administer oaths and examine any person on oath touching the right of such person, or of any other person, to registration.

Refusal of registration.

Upon every certificate or document presented and accepted as evidence of naturalization, in pursuance of which registration in the Great Register shall be accorded, the County Clerk or Assessor, as the case may be, shall at the same time indorse the fact, date and purpose of such presentation, and sign his name thereto.

SEC. 9. Section ten of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 10. Persons entitled to registration, whose registration shall be refused either by the County Clerk or Assessor, may proceed by mandamus against such Clerk or Assessor to procure their registration; but no costs shall be allowed in such proceeding. In cases not otherwise provided for in this Act, the registration of any person not duly qualified therefor may Cancellation be cancelled whenever the fact shall be made to appear in a proceeding in the nature of quo warranto, which may be instituted against such person in the County Court of the county where he is registered, on the sworn complaint of any registered citizen thereof setting forth the material facts of the case. The party interested shall be duly summoned, and may appear and answer as in ordinary actions in the District Courts; and the Court, upon hearing, at such time as may be appointed for the purpose, the parties having due and reasonable notice, shall proceed to render such judgment as the law and the facts shall require. If such judgment be for the cancellation of such registration, an appeal may be taken to the Supreme Court by the party aggrieved, in the same manner as other appeals are taken to the Supreme Court from the County Court.

Citizens.

Poll lists.

SEC. 10. Section eleven of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 11. Persons duly registered in the Great Register shall be deemed citizens of the State of California.

SEC. 11. Section twelve of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 12. During the month of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and during the month of August every four years thereafter, the County Clerks (except when and as may be otherwise ordered by the Board of Supervisors) of the several counties of this State shall make out and certify a general list, and during the month of August next preceding any general election, a supplementary list, alphabetically arranged according to surnames, of all persons who then stand registered upon the Great Register (omitting those whose names are cancelled by the proper entries), with the entries opposite each name, and the register number, as they appear in said book, and shall cause to be printed and transmitted to the Board of Elections of each election precinct in his county at least ten printed copies thereof; provided, that such supplementary list, unless otherwise ordered as aforesaid, shall contain only the names of persons registered after the making out of the general or supplementary list next preceding it; and whenever it shall appear, or be proven to the satisfaction of the County Clerk or the Board of Election that a mistake has been made in registering, listing or printing the name of any elector, by mis-spelling or otherwise, either in the general list or the printed copy

thereof, the said County Clerk or Board of Elections shall have power to correct such error, and it shall be his or their duty to do so upon the application of the party whose name is erroneously registered, listed or printed.

SEC. 12. Section thirteen of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Districts.

Section 13. The Board of Supervisors of each county through- Election out the State, including the City and County of San Francisco, are empowered, and immediately after the passage of this Act shall proceed to establish a convenient number of election districts in their respective counties, and to define the boundaries thereof, which they shall have power to alter from time to time, and shall also have power to establish and designate the precincts or places for holding the polls in each district, which they may change from time to time as the convenience of voters may require; provided, that no precinct shall be established or changed within thirty days next preceding any general election; and provided further, that every election district shall be so constructed as not in any case to embrace more than one township, nor parts of two or more townships, and in such manner that its exterior limits shall not cross the exterior boundaries of any township, incorporated town or city, or any ward, district or other territorial subdivision in and for which local officers are to be elected, except that school districts shall not be considered such territorial subdivisions within the meaning of this section, and except that the Board of Supervisors may designate any incorporated town or city, with its vicinage, as a precinct without regard to its corporate lines; and in such case, for any municipal election, the corporate authorities of such town or city shall cause the poll lists therefor to be made up in accordance with the provisions of this Act, as nearly as may be practicable. SEC. 13. Section fifteen of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

elections.

Section 15. The Board of Supervisors of the several coun- Officers of ties in this State shall appoint the Clerk and Judges of Election, except in those counties where said officers shall be declared elective by an order of the Board of Supervisors thereof. When elective, the Clerk and Judges of Election shall be chosen at the general election.

SEC. 14. Section nineteen of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

poll lists.

Section 19. The Clerk of Elections shall, during the period Revision of prescribed in the last section for making out and completing the poll lists, and when the Board is not in session upon his own authority, enter upon said list, subject to the revision and correction of the Board, the names of all persons still residing in his district enrolled in the next preceding poll list made out in pursuance of this Act, and also the names of all persons found upon the Great Register of the county whom he personally knows to be, or who, by the oath of any householder or legal voter of his district known to him, shall be satisfactorily proved to be bona fide residents of his district.

SEC. 15. Section twenty-two of said Act is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

Section 22. The Board of Registration shall be in session on